Ariston Services Group Invests $220,000 in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ariston Services Group purchased a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 38.4% during the third quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $501.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $546.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $457.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total value of $12,304,993.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $465.37 on Tuesday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $515.05. The firm has a market cap of $126.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $457.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.